Barley – The Berlin Spectatorhttps://berlinspectator.com
This is Berlin.Mon, 24 Jun 2019 04:43:49 +0000en-US
hourly
1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.4.1https://berlinspectator.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/cropped-logo-berlin-spectator-023-SQUARE-512-2-32x32.jpgBarley – The Berlin Spectatorhttps://berlinspectator.com
3232159402125Berlin: Thousands Take Part in Airlift 70th Anniversary Celebrationhttps://berlinspectator.com/2019/05/12/berlin-celebrates-70th-anniversary-of-airlift-2/
Sun, 12 May 2019 16:03:36 +0000https://berlinspectator.com/?p=4509Today, Berliners and Airlift heroes came to Tempelhof Airport, where 'Candy Bombers' used to land. This airfield, which was the reloading point for food and other goods badly needed in West Berlin seven decades ago, became the location for a huge anniversary celebration on Sunday. ]]>

Seventy years ago today, the Berlin Blockade ended. The only reason 2.1 million West Berliners survived was the Berlin Airlift, organized and flown by the American Air Force, the British Royal Air Force, the French and other countries. They flew back and forth between Western Germany and West Berlin, in order to feed an entire city in a nation which had been defeated, along with its fascism and genocide, three years earlier.

Thousands of Berliners came to the Airlift anniversary celebration. Photo: Imanuel Marcus

Today, Berliners and Airlift heroes came to Tempelhof Airport, where ‘Candy Bombers’ or ‘Raisin Bombers’ used to land. This airfield, which was the reloading point for food and other goods badly needed in West Berlin seven decades ago, became the location for a huge anniversary celebration on Sunday.

Gail Halvorsen was on site back then, as a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot who dropped loads of chocolates for the kids of West Berlin. And he was welcomed today. A baseball field, one of the few in Berlin, located at Tempelhof’s former airfield, was named after him this morning.

Gail Halvorsen from Utah took part in the Airlift as a pilot. Photo: Imanuel Marcus

Halvorsen is 98 years old. He was accompanied to Berlin by his two daughters. Without him and other dedicated pilots and helpers, the ramifications of the Berlin Blockade would have been catastrophic.

In his old uniform, Gail Halvorsen took the JFK approach today when he said it was “good to be home”. The old man from Utah is a Berliner too, in several ways. He and his colleagues flew as many as 278,000 flights to West Berlin. On the ground, mostly at Tempelhof Airport, 19,000 residents helped unloading and distributing the food, the coal and everything else the pilots brought.

There was a lot of activity in Tempelhof on Sunday. Photo: Imanuel Marcus

An official anniversary event took place at the Airlift Monument in front of the terminal on Sunday morning. Berlin’s Governing Mayor Michael Müller told the participants the Airlift had shown that together, big challenges could be overcome. Müller is a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).

This stationary original ‘Raisin Bomber’ was one of the stars of the day. Photo: Imanuel Marcus

His party colleague Katarina Barley, who is both Germany’s Minister of Justice and the SPD’s top candidate for the upcoming European elections, said with the Airlift, the impossible had become possible. Solidarity had made the miracle happen.

Minister Barley joined Mayor Müller on stage at the actual festivities later, before she rushed off towards the city center, where she was scheduled to speak at the weekly pro-European rally organized by ‘Pulse for Europe’. But the two politicians took the time to board the only ‘Raisin Bomber’ on site, and to look at several stands at the festivities.

A total of seven Berlin Airlift veterans were among the guests. So were Berlin’s former Mayors Klaus Wowereit and Eberhard Diepgen. On the day of the 50th Airlift anniversary in 1999, Diepgen had thanked America in a speech at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C..

The Berlin government was angered by the fact that U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell did not show up today, according to German-language news publications. Instead, the U.S. representative Robin S. Quinville took part. But Ambassador Grenell did go to a concert on Saturday which was part of the official Airlift anniversary festivities too.

At the big happening at Tempelhof Airport, thousands of Berliners and tourists listened to marches played by a German army orchestra. They looked at video installations and exhibitions about the Airlift, including an original Berlin living room set up the way they looked like 70 years ago. Organizations such as ‘Care’, which used to be involved in the Airlift, had stands on the airfield.

Yet another star was welcomed for the celebration on Sunday, namely the Sun. In spite of bad weather forecasts, it provided light and warmth for everyone in Tempelhof.

]]>4509German Reactions to May’s Brexit Defeathttps://berlinspectator.com/2019/01/16/german-reactions-to-mays-brexit-defeat/
Wed, 16 Jan 2019 09:10:30 +0000https://berlinspectator.com/?p=1125Heiko Maas, the Minister of Justice who is a Social Democrat, just like Minister Barley, said it was the United Kingdom turn for a move. "What the Britons want did not become clear yesterday, but only what they don't want." He said he oped for reason.]]>

Update January 16th, 2019, 12:50 p.m.

After Prime Minister Theresa May’s defeat at the House of Commons in London, Berlin politicians started commenting on the chaos surrounding Brexit. Some of them suggested strategies. Where should the European Union and the United Kingdom go from here?

What will it be? New elections in Britain? An even more chaotic no-deal Brexit? A second referendum? Will the E.U. agree to concessions? Or will they be persistent? What should Europe do, if anything?

Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Berlin, she wanted to continue her efforts to achieve an orderly Brexit. “We believe it is the up to the British side to tell us what will happen.” Merkel said there was still time for negotiations. Now was the time to wait for Prime Minister Theresa May’s suggestions.

Merkel stated the damage caused by Brexit needed to be kept as small as possible. “That is why we will keep on trying to find an orderly solution.” The Chancellor announced new laws put forward by her government which would apply in case of a disorderly Brexit. On Thursday, the drafts will be discussed at the Bundestag.

“We should give the Britons the opportunity to take a clear decision”, Germany’s Commerce Secretary Peter Altmaier told the TV network ZDF this morning. Nobody but the British parliament could decide which of the possible paths would have a majority, he said.

“Great Britain is the motherland of democracy”, Altmaier said. This aspect was “exhausting, but also impressive.” He stated he was especially “impressed by young Britons who say they want a future with the European Union, and not without.”

Almaier, an important confidant of Chancellor Angela Merkel, also stressed the deal with the E.U. could not be renegotiated. But there was still time until the Brexit date.

Germany’s Minister of Justice, Katarina Barley, who has British roots herself, offered general advice for difficult moments. “In politics you don’t just give up in muddled situations”, she twittered on Wednesday morning. “You keep on working on a solution.”

“This is what I expect from those who support an orderly Brexit and those who reject any Brexit. Everything has to be done to prevent a chaotic Brexit”, Barley said.

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas who is a Social Democrat, just like Minister Barley, said it was the United Kingdom’s turn for a move. “What the Britons want did not become clear yesterday, but only what they don’t want.” He said he hoped for reason.

“I regret this decision was taken in London”, Annegreat Kramp-Karrenbauer, the chairlady of Chancellor Merkel’s conservative party CDU said. “A disorderly Brexit is the worst of all options. Now it is important to take one step at a time.”

The largest tabloid in Germany, ‘Bild’, commented on the news from London by posting a headline which reads “What a BrexSHIT!”.

Since yesterday evening one thing was clear, the publication said. “British politicians, both from the government and the opposition, are not on par with the historic decision they need to take. How can the island leave the E.U. without sinking itself?”

In Switzerland, the ‘Neue Zürcher Zeitung’ daily said “some time ago heads of government would step down after losing an important vote. But May will not go voluntarily.”